July 15/00 10:28 am - Junior Road Nationals Story

Posted by Editor on 07/15/00

An interesting first day of road races at the Road Nationals in Peterborough, Ontario. For once, Quebec was shut out of the Junior national titles. While Quebec may not be happy, it bodes well for the development of road racing that other provinces can put up a battle to perennial favourite.

Clare Hall-Patch of British Columbia took the women's race, while Murray Carter of Manitoba won the men's. In both cases, Quebec dominated much of the racing, chasing down any breakaway attempts, but exhausted themselves so much that they had nothing left for the end.

In the women's 66 kilometre (5 lap) race it came down to a sprint finish, while Carter took a last lap flyer in the men's 119 kilometre event (9 laps) and managed to hold on by 15 seconds to win. "I was telling Clare over the radio, 'Just look at the line and go as hard as you can' ", said a proud BC manager Roger Sumner after the race. Hall-Patch is one of the new generation of Canadian women to watch out for - last year she was Junior National Mountain Bike champion, and she has raced less than 10 road races in her short two season career!

Carter, in the men's race, was well aware the Quebec's strength, and stayed near the front all race until he made his move, shortly after the men started their last lap. "I was surprised (that Quebec didn't chase). I kept looking back, expecting them to chase, but I guess they had gone too hard earlier. I could sense that they were a bit tired, so I jumped, and it worked."

In all of the races today (Veteran and Junior) it came down to either a single rider with a slight lead, or a bunch finish. This could make things very interesting tomorrow during the Olympic Trials. The women begin at 9:00 am for 119 kilometres, and the men at 1:30 for 224 kilometres. We will be reporting live all day, so tune in.

Full results for today's races will be posted separately. However, please be aware that we have to type in all results, so please be patient.